Candy
by Reizbar-Ookami
Summary: Sakura, like any good kunoichi, just wants to give her teammates some chocolates for Valentine's Day. Sure, she goes a little over board. Making three separate batches was probably a bit much. They all probably would have appreciated the same chocolate. But she wanted each of them to know that she noticed what they liked and disliked. She'd just never expected them to reciprocate.


Author's Note: This was so cute, how could I not?! I want someone to make chocolate for me. **:**C

Also I know Sasuke is so out of character in this, it's not even funny, but please try to look past it because I don't want to fix it because it's cute. **:**C

* * *

Candy

Sakura tasted a piece of each batch of chocolate she'd made, then smiled brightly. They all tasted delicious. They weren't necessarily her favorite (she preferred white chocolate with pieces of dried strawberry in it), but they were good, and they fit each of her teammates perfectly.

She'd made milk chocolate with a hit of cayenne for Kakashi-sensei. Of course, she didn't know if he liked chocolate, but at least it would be interesting enough that he'd at least appreciate it. It hadn't been exactly labor intensive, but she figured he might like something simple if he didn't actually like chocolate, so he could try to give it to someone else to eat.

For Sasuke-kun she'd made a bitter chocolate with some chopped almonds. She was pretty sure he'd like that, because he always threw away all of the chocolate he got at the academy except for the small box of bitter chocolate that Iruka-sensei would give him as a 'trade,' even though she'd checked the label on the box and it had obviously been homemade.

Naruto-kun's chocolate had been the hardest, but only because she hadn't known what to make for him. She couldn't exactly make _ramen chocolate_ (ugh, she shuddered at the thought). She'd tried to figure out what else he liked, and she guessed he sort of liked fruit, but despised vegetables, but he liked spicy things. She'd thought about making him some spicy chocolate, too, but that seemed like such a copout after she'd made it for Kakashi-sensei, and she wanted them all to know that she cared to take the time for them individually.

It had been a complete stroke of luck when she'd stumbled across that popping candy in the store. Naruto-kun was full of surprises, so his chocolate should be, too. She'd even chopped up a few spare almonds from Sasuke's chocolate to throw in, but she made sure to dice them small because she didn't know if he liked nuts and this way he hopefully wouldn't notice if he didn't.

Sakura pulled out the boxes she'd bought and placed the chocolates in them carefully. She wrapped Kakashi-sensei's in some Icha-Icha paper that she'd had to beg her parents to buy for her for this one gift and then they were throwing it out. She was sort of embarrassed, but she had to smile a little when she imagined the looks on all of her teammates' faces when they saw it. She wrapped Sasuke-kun's in plain brown paper and carefully drew a kunai on the top (with exact proportions, thank-you-very-much!). She wrapped Naruto-kun's in orange paper that had a bunch of frogs on it. She thought he might like that, because of his frog purse.

She sighed and wiped some sweat from her forehead, taking a step back from the table. She placed her hands on her hips and smiled, feeling proud of her accomplishment. She'd only ever made chocolate for her dad and a few cute boys in the academy, but that had all been one batch and hadn't been personalized. Somehow, this felt… better. More… something. Something special.

She sighed again, still smiling as she looked around the kitchen at the mess she'd made. She didn't even mind having to clean it up, even though her mother would probably scold her because admittedly the mess seemed to be from carelessness than actual necessity.

But she'd give her parents some of the leftovers, and that would soften their annoyance.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Sakura was almost worried that they wouldn't meet on Valentine's Day, because Kakashi might be so popular and would have to spend the entire day running from women. Apparently, though, he'd scared them off, and had even scared off Sasuke's (other) fan girls. …For now.

Skipping up to them, proud of her work, she shoved the Icha-Icha wrapped one at Kakashi. "Here, sensei!" She watched him fumble between his book and the package, wondering if maybe her sensei's genius had been lessened by a blow to the head at some point, because at this rate, he was going to drop both of them.

Then she turned to the blond and brunet, smiling brightly. "I made some for you, too! Happy Valentine!" She handed the packages to them, paused when she realized she'd almost mixed them up, then switched them and handed them to the correct person. "I hope you like them."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but untied the twine around his box and pushed the paper back, fingers pausing over the drawing of the kunai. He normally just threw out his candy, but she was looking at him so earnestly that he at least needed to try it—but only because she was his teammate, not because he liked her or anything. He took a piece from the corner and carefully took a nibble from the square.

It was bitter chocolate. He was actually rather pleased, because girls usually gave him the gooiest, sweetest candies they could find or make. "…Thanks."

Sakura beamed at him. "You're welcome, Sasuke-kun!" She turned toward her other teammate, still smiling, but it quickly faded when she saw him staring at the box in confusion. "…Is… is something wrong, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked up at her quickly, looking like a frightened deer, then blushed a little, hugging the package to his chest. "Oh, no. Nothing." He clenched his fingers around the box, biting his bottom lip, then whispered, "I've just never gotten chocolate before."

Sakura blanched. She'd noticed vaguely that at the academy, there was always one box on Naruto's desk, and it was clearly from Iruka because he made sure no one felt left out. It just never occurred to her that Naruto would care, because he was always so loud and smiling anyway—

"Well, it's not even that good of chocolate," she began, babbling, but she couldn't bring herself to stop. "I mean, I made it myself. It would probably taste better if I'd gotten from the store, but I wanted to show that I—"

Naruto smiled up at her. "You made me my very own chocolate?"

She blushed a little, then scowled. "I-idiot! It's not that big of a deal! You're my teammates! It would be rude if I didn't!"

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," he whispered, hugging the box to his chest. "I really appreciate it."

Her cheeks flushed further. "Oh, brother," she mumbled, leaning her forehead in one hand in embarrassment. She'd been trying to do something nice for her teammates, not embarrass herself.

"Geh! Spiccccccyyyyyyy!"

"What?! When did you even put that in your mouth!" she exclaimed in exasperation as Kakashi waved his hand at his mask. "I made it spicy in case you didn't like sweets! You're supposed to take small bites, sensei!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. "I'm not your sensei anym—Oh, look!" He smiled and leaned down a little when the blond thrust the package up at him. "Someone gave you chocolates? Who? Can I have a piece?"

"They're from Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling brightly. "She made them just for me! She _made_ them! I haven't tried any yet but it must be really good, because Sasuke liked his and Kakashi-sensei nearly killed himself eating the ones she made for him! I guess Kakashi-sensei doesn't like sweets, so she put something spicy in it so he'd like it, but he ate it too fast, he said it was like breathing fire."

Iruka laughed. "So what are you going to make for her for White Day, then?" He watched the blond pale and couldn't help but chuckle, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I'll help you. Oh, Anko dropped off her chocolate for you, too. She's out on a mission, otherwise she would have brought them herself," he added, walking over to the fridge to pull out the box. "Here."

Naruto nearly vibrated with glee when he opened it and found Ichiraku vouchers on top of the box of chocolate.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Sasuke and Kakashi stared at the smoking mess in the pan. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Maaa… I guess we can't give her that and tell her it's the thought that counts?"

Sasuke stared at the burnt chocolate a little longer, then turned. "I'm leaving."

"You're not even going to help me clean up?!"

"No. It's not my kitchen."

Kakashi sighed, wondering if he could summon Pakkun to take care of it. He probably shouldn't. Dogs and chocolate (even chocolate that was smoking and burnt) should never mix.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Iruka turned his head as he heard a knock, then smiled, reaching out to ruffle Naruto's hair. "You just keep chopping those strawberries up, okay?"

"'kay," he answered, slicing each strawberry carefully like the brunet had shown him.

Sasuke looked up sullenly as the door opened. Iruka blinked. "…Hi, Sasuke-kun."

"I tried to make chocolate with Kakashi-sensei and we almost set his apartment on fire."

The chunin blinked again slowly. "…Oh."

"And normally I don't care, but Sakura made me chocolate and my mom always taught me that if your teammate gives you chocolate on Valentine's Day, you have to return the favor."

"…Oh." Iruka tilted his head, then smiled. "Well, what kind of chocolate would you like to make?"

Sasuke hesitated, then pulled out the recipe he'd tucked into his pocket before he'd left Kakashi's place. "This."

"Oh, with a caramel swirl," the brunet nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, then frowned. "Oh, I only have white chocolate here—If I give you a list of what you need, do you think you could go to the store and get it?"

Sasuke did not tell him that he had already spent several hours at the store, pondering the difference between cocoa powder and hot chocolate powder and whether it mattered if he got granulated sugar or powdered. "Fine."

Iruka led him inside and sat down on the couch with a pad of paper and a pencil. Luckily, though, he seemed to bring his professional life into his personal one and explained as he went along, for which Sasuke was grateful. "I have granulated sugar for the caramel. I have butter and flour, I have milk, uh—So it looks like all we need is cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Here, just make sure you get this brand of cocoa powder—it has to be cocoa powder, though, not hot chocolate powder, okay? Powdered sugar is self-explanatory, of course. If you just go to the corner store and ask, I'm sure they'll help you," he finished, smiling.

"'kay," Sasuke muttered, taking the list from him. He looked at the list and couldn't help the relief he felt when he saw the names of the brands written beside them. He'd be able to find them by himself without having to ask someone for help; even civilians tried to butter him up nowadays.

Iruka watched him go, smiling a little, then turned back to his kitchen. "If you're finished, I'll put the strawberries in the oven to dry them out."

"Okay. Iruka-sensei, what are we getting Anko-'nee for White Day?"

"We're getting her gift certificates for dango because she got us gift certificates for ramen," the brunet replied. "And we're having a tea ceremony with her."

Naruto grimaced. "Oh. Ugh."

"Naruto, White Day only comes once a year. The only other time she makes us do it is her birthday; she knows we don't like it, so she doesn't push. But you know, ninja have different hobbies to keep them grounded—"

"And we should always try to help ninja when they're trying to settle from their missions," the blond sighed, rolling his eyes. "Okay. But I'm not wearing my kimono, dattebayo!"

Iruka smiled a little. "I suppose that will be okay." He turned as he heard the door open again and watched Sasuke toe off his sandals before he set a pan on the stove to start making the milk chocolate for his recipe.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Sakura blinked as her teammates approached her, frowning. She thought they'd had the day off, and she was picking up some things her dad needed to make dinner for her mom (and for her, too, but she was going to quietly take her plate to her room so her parents could make googly eyes at each other, because they didn't get to do that very often and she liked seeing them happy). She didn't think she had time to chase cats or retrieve balls from a roof and still get the vegetables to her dad.

Naruto smiled bashfully and held a box out to her. "Here, Sakura-chan. I hope you like it, 'ttebayo!"

"Oh! Thanks, Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. She didn't hold much hope for his cooking, but she wouldn't say that, because she figured it was more likely that he'd gotten help from Iruka.

Sasuke thrust his box at her as well. "Here."

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun!" She went to put the boxes in her bag, then glanced up at them. They were still there. She'd expected Sasuke to stalk away to angst at home while Naruto pranced back to Iruka's apartment.

She sighed, smiling a little as she set her shopping down and opened the box from Naruto first. "Oh, Naruto! White chocolate and strawberries, that's my favorite!" She took a bite of one square and hummed in approval; it wasn't as good as her mom's, but she doubted food would ever be as good as hers if she compared it. "It's so good! Thanks, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto beamed at her but hastily hid it before she could get mad at him for being cocky or something. "You're welcome, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura opened the box from Sasuke and hummed, smiling as she picked up a square and popped it in her mouth. "Mm!" She chewed, caramel sticking to her teeth, before looking up at him in surprise. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, this caramel is really good! Where'd you buy it?"

Sasuke blinked at her slowly. "…You can _buy_ caramel?" The thought obviously annoyed him.

"…Um." She smiled awkwardly, hurriedly stuffing the boxes into her bag. "I don't want to spoil my dinner, but you can bet that I'll finish these later! Thanks so much! Um, I better get back to shopping, because—AAHHH." She stiffened when she turned and found their jounin sensei standing in front of her. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Here," he muttered, dropping a box into her hands before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Sakura looked down at the box, blinking when she saw it was store-bought chocolate. "Oh. Um. Thanks, sensei," she muttered to the air. At least it was decent chocolate. She didn't know what else to say.

"…Well, I better go. Iruka-sensei and I are going to a tea ceremony with Anko-nee-san, dattebayo," Naruto said after a few seconds. He smiled. "I'm glad you liked it, Sakura-chan! I'll see you at training tomorrow, 'tebayo! Don't eat it all at one time and get a stomachache!"

She waved as he dashed off, then turned to look at Sasuke as he shuffled awkwardly in front of her. She remembered belatedly that he didn't have anyone to go home to. "…Sasuke-kun?"

He glanced up at her, hunching his shoulders stubbornly. "What?"

"…My dad needs tomatoes for one of his dishes, and I don't much care for them. Will you help me pick out some good ones?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed, and she feared for a moment that he might say no, but then he nodded, just a quick jerk of his head. "Fine, but then I need to go."

She smiled brightly. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun!" She hadn't expected him to say yes, so she wasn't going to ruin it by gushing at him.

As he was setting tomatoes in her bag, though, she realized that he probably had only agreed just so he could ask her a question.

"…Sakura, what do you get as a thank you gift for someone that helped you make some chocolate and actually ended up pretty much doing it himself?"

She couldn't help a giggle even as she directed him over to a shopping stall that had various kunai, because she remembered overhearing Iruka complaining about how another of his whet stones for sharpening his kunai had gone missing, and had later heard Anko happily chat with Kakashi-sensei about her good fortune in finding a whet stone in her bag after losing her other one. She wasn't sure it was Iruka-sensei that had helped him, but she had a hunch he was, and her hunches were usually right.


End file.
